5 9 2 FACt AGAINST FiCTION. 



Foolish gamekeepers hate a hxrge stock of male 

 birds, simply because theij think their crowing when 

 they go to roost attracts the poaching thief. They 

 also hate to have many cocks in smnmer, because 

 the crowing of the male bird indicates the where- 

 abouts of the female's nest. All cock pheasants crow 

 in summer, master birds and younger birds, and 

 the more there are, the more deluded as to the spot 

 of a plieasant's nest the intending thief will be. 

 Some 2)eople, masters and keepers, dislike white 

 or pied pheasants, because they think tliat ''they 

 attract thieves." If I thought they did, I would tie 

 a lantern to the bird's tail, if I could catch him, to 

 add to the attraction, for then the capture of a 

 2)oaching thief would be more easily effected than 

 it is now. 



I recommend a larger stock of both hen and cock 

 pheasants to be kejDt on the lands than is absolutely 

 needed for breeding purposes, because then if it is 

 a bad season, as it so often is now, you have some- 

 thing in hand to shoot at. As to partridges, I have 

 heard lords of manors say, '' It is no use hand-rear- 

 ing partridges, for they pack, and in the shooting 

 season you can't get near them." So much the 

 better then ; you can shoot liarder on the wild-bred 



